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The Georgia BRIGHT (Building Renewables & Investing for Green, Healthy, Thriving Communities) for Nonprofits program uses Inflation Reduction Act to help nonprofits save money on utilities
Atlanta, Georgia (August 15, 2024) – Georgia is one of the top five states in the country in terms of the percentage of low-income households that are “energy-burdened,” meaning that energy costs are a significant drain on a family’s budget. Despite dramatic decreases in the cost of clean energy, solar options remain out of reach for many nonprofit organizations and low-and middle-income (LMI) families in the state. Candide Group’s Afterglow Climate Justice Fund is investing $3M in Georgia BRIGHT Solar Communities, run by nonprofit CDFI Capital Good Fund, to support their solar and storage program for mission-aligned organizations like houses of worship, nonprofits, and local government facilities.
“Afterglow is proud to support the Georgia BRIGHT Solar Communities program. The bill savings these projects will generate through solar energy will help organizations in Georgia continue to impact their communities positively, contributing to a just transition,” said Neal Parikh, Managing Director of Candide Group’s Afterglow Climate Justice Fund. The Georgia BRIGHT solar leasing and Solar Energy Procurement Agreement (“SEPA”) program is aimed at expanding solar access to nonprofit organizations and LMI families. On Earth Day, the Georgia BRIGHT coalition, led by Capital Good Fund, received a $156M EPA’s Solar For All grant, which will dramatically scale this pilot program and bring the benefits of solar to thousands of households and mission-aligned entities while creating good-paying jobs.
“Solar has been largely inaccessible to low-income communities and the organizations that support them,” says Capital Good Fund founder and CEO Andy Posner. “Every dollar that a community organization saves on energy is a dollar they can invest in their mission. And by adding battery storage, they can also serve as resilience hubs during the increasingly common extreme weather events driven by climate change. So our program is truly a win-win-win!.” Because it is a SEPA (Georgia’s version of a PPA, or Power Purchase Agreement) program, there is no upfront cost to the community organization and the operations and maintenance of the system are covered by Georgia BRIGHT. This program is made possible through the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, which allows community organizations to claim the solar investment tax credit–worth at least 30% and up to 50%-via Elective Pay, also known as Direct Pay. Georgia BRIGHT uses the tax credits to lower the monthly SEPA payment, delivering more savings to community organizations.
Solar had been on the wish list of Trinity Episcopal Church in Statesboro Georgia for many years. It allows the parish to put part of their faith, Care for Creation, into practice by pursuing more sustainable climate-friendly energy sources like solar. Through the hard work of Trinity Episcopal Church’s Green Team and Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, the church was connected with the innovative Georgia BRIGHT Solar Communities program. “Georgia BRIGHT provides an opportunity that didn’t exist for nonprofits to benefit from solar power,” says church rector Father Charles Todd. The solar SEPA requires no upfront payment and will save the parish an estimated $62,000 over the next 25 years. The energy savings will have the additional benefit of enhancing the resources the church can devote to helping people in the community.
Capital Good Fund has partnered with local installers, Sunpath Solar, Better Tomorrow Solar, and Be Smart Home Solutions, which handles the Engineering, Permitting, and Construction.
For more on this program, please visit GeorgiaBRIGHT.org.
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About Capital Good Fund
Capital Good Fund is a Rhode Island-based nonprofit social change organization that uses financial services to tackle poverty and environmental injustice in America. Capital Good Fund offers solar leases, low-interest loans, and one-on-one Financial Coaching for the lower-income residents of Georgia, Rhode Island, Texas, Illinois, Florida, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Colorado. Since their founding in 2009, they have financed 16,000 loans totaling over $47 million with a 97% repayment rate and graduated over 2,000 people from their Coaching program. More at www.GoodFund.us.
About Candide Group’s Afterglow Climate Justice Fund
The Afterglow Climate Justice Fund seeks to expand access to and ownership of affordable clean energy solutions for communities marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by climate change. The Fund was specifically designed to achieve these goals by providing debt to primarily community-centered clean energy developers to finance distributed generation solar installation projects, electric vehicles, green buildings, and other projects, with an explicit focus on serving such historically marginalized communities. Complimentary benefits will include providing relief for wealth-deprived communities, eliminating prejudice and discrimination, and combating community deterioration.
